Roundup: Audio/Video History
Click here to listen to HNN's own podcasts and to see our list of prominent podcasts about history and historians.
25th Anniversary, President Reagan Assassination Attempt [50min]
Report: Bush Determined to Go to War, Despite Evidence [5min]
The Royal Society -- The First Club for Experimental Science [45min]
Travel in the Footsteps of Captain Bligh, Rebecca West & 'The Italian Job' [18min @9:00]
The History Boys, by Alan Bennett [2hr30min --thru 18-Mar-06]
Challenges Ahead in Building The Museum of African-American History and Culture [28min]
Bettany Hughes on the Medici: Smart Women, Gay Men and False Gods [30min]
Bettany Hughes on the Medici: Renaissance, what renaissance? [30min]
Friday, March 31, 2006
25th Anniversary, President Reagan Assassination Attempt [50min]
Source: VOA "Talk to America" Friday-31-March-2006 (3-31-06)
March 30th marked the 25 anniversary of the assassination attempt by John Hinckley on President Ronald Reagan. Author Richard Reeves asks in his new book President Reagan: The Triumph of the Imagination what would have happened if the President had died after being shot? We’ll discuss the legacy of Ronald Reagan and the many what ifs surrounding the assassination attempt.
Who Was This Guy George Mason? [3min]
Source: NPR "Day to Day" (3-31-06)
George Mason University has surprised sports fans by making it to the NCAA Final Four basketball tournament. But who was this George Mason character, anyway? Madeleine Brand talks to a descendent of the founding father about Mason's historical impact -- and his grouchy personality.
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Peru Seeks Return of Machu Picchu Artifacts [8min]
Source: NPR "All Things Considered" (3-30-06)
In 1911, Yale history professor Hiram Bingham III and a small group of guides stumbled upon a lost city of the Incas: the fortress of Machu Picchu, high in Peru's Andes Mountains. For centuries, the treasures found there had been lost to the Peruvian people. Once found, they disappeared again, going off to Yale's Peabody Museum. Now Peru wants the Incan relics returned. During three trips to Machu Picchu, Bingham excavated hundreds of objects, including silver statues, jewelry, musical instruments and human bones. The relics are part of a multimedia exhibition at Yale's Peabody Museum in New Haven, Conn. Two of Bingham's trips were co-funded by Yale University and the National Geographic Society. When Yale launched a major touring exhibition featuring the artifacts three years ago, the Peruvian government started negotiations to get them back. Yale offered to divide the items up and help Peru install its share in a museum near the site. Peruvian officials would not agree to any joint projects until Yale acknowledged that all of the objects belong to the Peruvian people. Yale refused. Peruvian officials say the dispute is between their government and Yale University, and does not involve the U.S. government. They have not announced when Peru will file suit. Diane Orson reports.
New Translation of 'Persian Book of Kings' [5min]
Source: NPR "Day to Day" (3-30-06)
Iranians are in the middle of a 13-day celebration of the Persian New Year, Nowruz. It's an ancient tradition that dates back before the Arab conquest of the Persian Empire in the 7th century. Just in time for the celebration, there's a new English translation of the Shahnameh, the "Persian Book of Kings." The epic was written over the course of 35 years, begun in the 10th century and finished in the 11th century by the poet Abolqasem Ferdowsi when the Persian Empire was a memory and Arabs dominated what is now the nation of Iran. The story told in the Shahnameh begins with the origins of the world, recounts myths and legends of ancient times, then traces centuries of royal lineage, ending with the Arab invasion of Persia. Translator Dick Davis is currently professor of Persian at Ohio State University and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. He takes an unorthodox approach to the epic, transforming Ferdowsi's verse into a combination of poetry and prose. The Shahnameh's 60,000 couplets of Farsi roughly translate to 100,000 lines of English verse. It evolved from earlier oral epics and a Persian history commissioned by the royal family. Davis says his translation is an effort to more closely mimic the cadence and feel of how storytellers have recited the Shahnameh for 1,000 years. Shereen Meraji reports.
U.K.'s Royal Society Buys a Piece of Science History [4min]
Source: NPR "Day to Day" (3-30-06)
Britain's leading scientific academy paid $1.75 million on Tuesday for a 17th-century manuscript that details the beginning of modern science. The Royal Society bought the manuscript on the eve of a public auction. Alex Chadwick speaks with the Steven Cox, chief executive of the Royal Society, about the big purchase.
Army Studies the History of Protracted Occupations [4min]
Source: NPR "Morning Edition" (3-30-06)
The U.S. Army is trying to figure out how to deal more effectively with the insurgency in Iraq. So they've pulled together a team of military intellectuals to study the history of protracted occupations. Steve Inskeep talks with the lead author of the soon-to-be-published manual on insurgencies, retired Army Col. Conrad Crane. He's the director of the U.S. Army Military History Institute at the Army War College.
Darfur Crisis Could Have Been Avoided? [23min]
Source: BBC World "HARDtalk" (3-30-06)
Zeinab Badawi talks to Dr Mukesh Kapila, the former UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan. He thinks the crisis in Darfur could have been avoided. The conflict in Darfur has seen at least two hundred thousand people dead, and two million displaced. The attacks, killing and destruction are reportedly getting worse and have strengthened calls for the UN to take over the peace-keeping operation of the beleaguered African Union there. Dr Mukesh Kapila was head of the UN mission in Sudan when the Darfur tragedy was unfolding. He says his pleas for help went unheeded and led to needless deaths.
Is America Facing Economic Disaster? [23min]
Source: BBC World "HARDtalk" (3-30-06)
Stephen Sackur talks to America's Auditor -in-Chief, David Walker. Does the future spell economic disaster for America? The richest, most powerful nation on earth faces a fiscal "tsunami" which threatens to overwhelm Government and citizens alike. Who says so? America's auditor in chief, David Walker, whose job it is to oversee all Federal spending. He's pleading with US politicians and taxpayers to face up to the harsh economic realities that come with an ageing population and spiralling budget deficits. But is economic disaster really so close at hand? Stephen Sackur talks to David Walker.
Francis Fukuyama Interview [27min]
Source: BBC World Service "The Interview" (3-30-06)
Leading American intellectual Francis Fukuyama influenced a generation of policy makers throughout the United States with his groundbreaking thesis The End of History. His theories were taken up by the "neo-conservative" camp at the heart of President George W. Bush's government. But now Francis Fukuyama is having second thoughts. He is opposed to the war in Iraq, and he believes America is badly out of step with the world. He talks to Carrie Gracie on "The Interview" about sudden fame, falling out with colleagues, and America getting it wrong.
The Carolingian Renaissance [45min]
Source: BBC Radio 4 "In Our Time" (3-30-06)
In AD 800 on Christmas Day in Rome, Pope Leo III proclaimed Charlemagne Emperor. According to the Frankish historian Einhard, Charlemagne would never have set foot in St Peter's that day if he had known that the Pope intended to crown him. But Charlemagne accepted his coronation with magnanimity. Regarded as the first of the Holy Roman Emperors, Charlemagne became a touchstone for legitimacy until the institution was brought to an end by Napoleon in 1806. A Frankish King who held more territory in Western Europe than any man since the Roman Empire, Charlemagne's lands extended from the Atlantic to Vienna and from Northern Germany to Rome. His reign marked a period of enormous cultural and literary achievement. But at its foundation lay conquest, conversion at the point of a sword and a form of Christianity that was obsessed with sin, discipline and correction. How did Charlemagne become the most powerful man in Western Europe and how did he finance his conquest? Why was he able to draw Europe's most impressive scholars to his court? How successful was he in his quest to reform his church and educate the clergy? And can the Carolingian period really be called a Renaissance? "In Our Time" treats the big ideas which form the intellectual agenda of our age, illuminated by some of the best minds. Host Melvyn Bragg investigates the history of ideas and debates their application in modern life with his guests Matthew Innes, Professor of History at Birkbeck, University of London; Julia Smith, Edwards Professor of Medieval History at Glasgow University; and Mary Garrison, Lecturer in History at the University of York. Baron Bragg -- historian, journalist and novelist -- is Controller of Arts for London Weekend Television.
WWI -- Tedium & Fear, Then Over the Top [30min]
Source: BBC Radio 4 "The Man from Esher and His Theatre of War" (3-30-06)
R C Sherriff wrote the play Journey's End following his own experiences of the trenches in the First World War. Unflinching but deeply humane, it was a huge hit in London's West End and a global export in some 26 languages. But the man who wrote it remains something of mystery, an insurance agent who lived quietly among the rolling lawns in the Surrey town of Esher. Robert Gore-Langton tries to find out more.
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Ala. Debates Posthumous Pardon for Rosa Parks [4min]
Source: NPR "Day to Day" (3-28-06)
Some Alabama state legislators want to pardon civil rights icon Rosa Parks for the 1955 arrest that triggered the Montgomery bus boycott. But others in the capital of Montgomery oppose the move, saying a pardon would imply that Parks did something wrong in the first place. Steve Chiotakis of member station WBHM in Alabama reports.
Remembering Caspar Weinberger [6min]
Source: NPR "Talk of the Nation" (3-28-06)
Journalist and author Lou Cannon talks about the life of former defence secretary Caspar Weinberger. He served in the Cabinets of both Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan and was central figure in the Iran-Contra scandal and died Tuesday at age 88. Guest: Lou Cannon, author of President Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime; former newspaper reporter who covered Weinberger since the early 1950s when he was an assemblyman in California.
Reagan Advisers Weinberger and Nofziger Die [2min]
Source: NPR "Morning Edition" (3-28-06)
Casper Weinberger, defense secretary under Ronald Reagan during the height of the arms race with the Soviet Union, has died at age 88. Former Reagan press secretary and political adviser Lyn Nofziger has also died. He was 81.
A Symbol of Britishness [30min]
Source: BBC Radio 4 "The Long View" (3-28-06)
What is Britishness? What are the ingredients that bind the inhabitants of these islands together? It's a question that's taken on a new political urgency recently with Gordon Brown speaking out about a need to find new symbols for our national identity, while the London bombings last year cast a shadow over the comfortable belief in a contentedly multi-cultural Britain. Jonathan Freedland discovers that agonising over Britishness is as old as Britain itself, and trying to pin down a symbol for it can be a tricky business.
Monday, March 27, 2006
Report: Bush Determined to Go to War, Despite Evidence [5min]
Source: NPR "Day to Day" (3-27-06)
How long was the Bush administration planning on war with Iraq, and how much did weapons of mass destruction matter? The New York Times reports Monday that a confidential memo detailing a conversation between President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair shows the president was determined to go to war with Iraq even without evidence of weapons of mass destruction. Madeleine Brand speaks with British lawyer Phillipe Sands, who wrote about the memo in his book, Lawless World.
Vichy Collaborators [9min @22:10]
Source: BBC Radio 4 "Start the Week" (3-27-06)
Writer and critic Carmen Callil, founder of Virago Press, joins a 45min roundtable discussion on gender politics, Paul Gauguin and Vincent Van Gogh, and the legacy of Modernism, to discuss Nazi collaborators in the Vichy government. Her book Bad Faith: A Forgotten History of Family and Fatherland (Jonathan Cape) tells the story of the Nazi collaborator Louis Darquier, a villain and conman who managed the Vichy government's dirty work, 'controlling' its Jewish population as 'Commissioner for Jewish Affairs'. It also tells the story of his daughter who was growing up in a small English village, unaware that her father was sending thousands of Jewish children to their deaths. "Start the Week" sets the cultural agenda every Monday. Guests are drawn from the top movers and shakers in politics, history, science and the arts. The host, award-winning journalist Andrew Marr, also welcomes New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd, art critic Martin Gayford and Victoria & Albert Museum curator Christopher Wilk.
Early Christian Texts [9min @13:20]
Source: PRI "To The Best of Our Knowledge" Program 06-03-26-A (3-27-06)
Karen King is a historian at the Harvard Divinity School. Her books include The Secret Revelation of John and What Is Gnosticism? Kind tells Anne Strainchamps that there are many early Christian texts that didn't make it into the Bible and that they give us a much fuller understanding of what it means to be a Christian.
Buck Owens Stayed True to His 'Bakersfield Sound' [3min]
Source: NPR "Weekend Edition Sunday" (3-27-06)
Buck Owens had an impact on country music that goes beyond his many hits or his TV time on Hee Haw. He created the "Bakersfield Sound," challenging Nashville's dominance on the country landscape.
Robert Fisk [54min]
Source: ABC Australia "Big Ideas" (3-27-06)
He is controversial, outspoken and always draws a crowd. Journalist Robert Fisk has spent over 30 years in the Middle East. He's covered the Lebanese civil war, the Iranian Revolution, Iran-Iraq wars, the Gulf Wars, Afghanistan and the current conflict in Iraq. He says he's met Osama Bin Laden three times. Fisk is more determined than ever to prosecute a case against the injustices of the west against the Arab and Muslim world. Agree with him or not, his presentations are suffused with passionate belief in change for the better. This talk was recorded recently in Sydney, as part of the Sydney Ideas 2006 public lecture series organised by the University of Sydney.
Saturday, March 25, 2006
'Federal Register' Marks 70th Anniversary [4min]
Source: NPR "All Things Considered" (3-25-06)
When the federal government lost a lawsuit because it couldn't find a law on the books, Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis took action. The Federal Register was born, 70 years ago this month. Register director Ray Mosley chats with Debbie Elliott.
Friday, March 24, 2006
Radical Islam Is the New Totalitarianism [4min]
Source: NPR "All Things Considered" (3-23-06)
The third anniversary of the U.S.-led war in Iraq has focused attention on postwar planning, the withdrawal of U.S. troops, and the possibilities of civil war. Commentator Joe Loconte says these issues shouldn't distract our attention from the horrifying vision of radical Islam.
Kevin Phillips: 'American Theocracy' [51min]
Source: WAMU "The Diane Rehm Show" (3-23-06)
In American Theocracy: The Peril and Politics of Radical Religion, Oil, and Borrowed Money in the 21st Century, former Republican strategist Kevin Phillips writes about the intersection of religion, oil, politics and money and what it means for the future of the country. Phillips is author of American Dynasty: Aristocracy, Fortune, and the Politics of Deceit in the House of Bush (Viking) and Wealth and Democracy: A Political History of the American Rich (Broadway).
The New Enlightenment [30min]
Source: BBC Radio 4 "Thinking Allowed" (3-23-06)
The role of religion in society has emerged as one of the key political issues of the beginning of the 21st century. From Islamist terror attacks to religious hatred laws in the UK, from the increased visibility of the Christian right in the US to the riots in Paris this summer, the question of the changing relationship between the secular state and faith has become central to political debate. Laurie Taylor is joined by Stephen Bronner, Professor of Political Science, Rutgers University, and Jonathan Ree, Visiting Professor of Roehampton University and Royal College of Art, to discuss whether the secularists got it wrong and the appropriate relationship between, religion, politics and the state. Bronner is author of Reclaiming the Enlightenment: Toward a Politics of Radical Engagement (Columbia University Press). Ree is author of Proletarian Philosophers: Problems in Socialist Culture in Britain, 1900-40 (Oxford University Press) and Philosophy and Its Past (Humanities Press).
The Royal Society -- The First Club for Experimental Science [45min]
Source: BBC Radio 4 "In Our Time" (3-24-06)
The natural philosopher Francis Bacon heralded the new age of science. The frontispiece to his 1620 edition of the Instauratio Magna depicted a galleon travelling between the metaphorical pillars of Hercules thought to lie at the Strait of Gibraltar and believed to mark the end of the known world. The image encapsulated Bacon's desire to sail beyond the limits set by Aristotle and the curriculum of the Ancient universities towards the new continent of science. Bacon imagined practical scientists engaged in a collaborative effort to expand knowledge of the natural world. But it was not until the turbulence of the Civil War and Commonwealth years had passed that such a group of scientists would gather together in London for this purpose and form the Royal Society. Amongst its members were Robert Boyle, Robert Hooke, Christopher Wren and Isaac Newton, who explicitly rejected dogma and insisted on practical experimentation and observation. How was the Royal Society formed against a backdrop of religious and political strife? What was it about the way this group of men worked that allowed each individual to flourish in his own field? And how successful was the Royal Society in disseminating the benefits of experimental science? "In Our Time" treats the big ideas which form the intellectual agenda of our age, illuminated by some of the best minds. Host Melvyn Bragg investigates the history of ideas and debates their application in modern life with his guests Stephen Pumfrey, Senior Lecturer in the History of Science at the University of Lancaster; Lisa Jardine, Professor of Renaissance Studies at Queen Mary, University of London; and Michael Hunter, Professor of History at Birkbeck, University of London. Baron Bragg -- historian, journalist and novelist -- is Controller of Arts for London Weekend Television.
POWs of WWII Japan [30min]
Source: BBC Radio Scotland "People's History" Thurs 30 Mar 1130 GMT (3-23-06)
Andy Coogan was a Japanese POW for over three years, and Harry Duffus was an officer in the Canadian centre that received the men who survived the camps. Moving stories of fortitude, brutality and towering humanity. Billy Kay traces the often surprising roots and history of Scotland's local communities.
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Knights Templar Inspires Trio of Best-Selling Books [4min]
Source: NPR "Day to Day" (3-22-06)
The Knights Templar, a Crusades-era group of Christian monks turned soldiers, have inspired a trio of current best-selling books -- The Last Templar by Raymond Khoury, The Templar Legacy by Steve Barry and the ubiquitous best-seller The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. Alex Chadwick discusses the literary fascination with the Knights Templar with Laura Miller, book critic for Salon.com.
Georgia Eyes High-School Bible-History Classes [4min]
Source: NPR "Morning Edition" (3-22-06)
Georgia lawmakers are expected to pass a bill authorizing a Bible literacy class in public high schools. The class, "History and Literature of the Old and New Testament," will be taught with the Bible as the text. The bill does not require that schools teach the course, or that students take it. Emily Kopp of Georgia Public Broadcasting reports.
Roller Derby Queen was Best Bad Girl in Sports [4min]
Source: NPR "Morning Edition" (3-22-06)
Commentator Frank Deford remembers one of his favorite athletes: roller derby legend Ann Calvello. Calvello was known as the bad girl of the roller derby circuit. She died last week of cancer.
Historic Recordings Tell Clawhammer Banjo History [9min]
Source: NPR "All Things Considered" (3-22-06)
Forty years ago, a young man named Charles Faurot traveled from New York City to southwestern Virginia looking for older traditional banjo players to record for a tiny country-music record label. He found them and eventually produced three LPs of raw, intense mountain music. The records became the subjects of near cult-like devotion among a generation of younger players from around the world. One of them was NPR newscaster and reporter Paul Brown. The records are back out, on CD, with additional tracks. Listening to them again, Brown found himself swept away by their brilliance. And he decided, at long last, to find Charles Faurot, and hear the story of the making of Clawhammer Banjo, Vols. 1-3.
A Short History of Presidential Censure [11min]
Source: NPR "Talk of the Nation" (3-22-06)
A look at the political history of efforts to censure the president. Guest: H.W. Brands, Dickson Allen Anderson Centennial professor of history at the University of Texas.
Exploring Broadway's Early Irish Period [21min]
Source: NPR "Fresh Air from WHYY" (3-22-06)
Singer, musician and folklorist Mick Moloney's new album, McNally's Row of Flats, centers on theater songs by an Irish songwriting team from the late 1800s. In those days, Vaudeville and minstrelsy were giving way to American Musical Theater in New York City. The Irish team consisted of actor and writer Ed Harrigan and musician David Braham, both acclaimed performers of the early Great White Way. The songs on Moloney's CD range from "Dad's Dinner Pail" to "I Never Drink Behind the Bar." It also includes a top hit of 1878, "Such an Education Has My Mary Ann."
A Political Warning Shot: 'American Theocracy' [21min]
Source: NPR "Fresh Air from WHYY" (3-22-06)
Kevin Phillips rose to prominence on the heels of Richard Nixon's political triumphs. His 1969 book The Emerging Republican Majority was hailed as a visionary work of political analysis. But his new book, American Theocracy, argues that the Republican Party -- and the country -- is headed for disaster. Subtitled "The Peril and Politics of Radical Religion, Oil, and Borrowed Money in the 21st Century," American Theocracy puts the trials of modern America into the context of other great historical powers. From Rome to Great Britain, Phillips identifies the keys to their decline -- and draws parallels to modern America. Phillips wrote a 2004 bestseller, American Dynasty, about the Bush family. American Theocracy is a harsh criticism of the current Bush administration and the Republican Party. Phillips, a senior strategist for Richard Nixon's 1968 presidential bid, registered himself as a political independent in 2002. The Emerging Republican Majority correctly predicted the trend of American voters toward greater conservatism -- particularly in the South. Since then, Phillips has written 11 books about economics, history and politics. In 1978, Phillips became a radio commentator for CBS News, and in 1984, for National Public Radio as well.
History of American Vaudeville 3rd of 3 [30min]
Source: BBC Radio 4 "Palace of Laughter, Stateside" (3-22-06)
A look at how some of the finest vaudeville theatres reinvented themselves in order to survive after vaudeville itself withered and died in the 1930s. The Boston Opera House, the Orpheum in Memphis, and the Pantages in Minneapolis are now flourishing theatrical and musical venues, but it took millions of dollars of investment and many long years of painstaking restoration and rebuilding, as well as a change of attitude towards the preservation of the past. Geoffrey Wheeler's series about the history of American vaudeville.
Consensus Politics in the UK, Then & Now [30min]
Source: BBC Radio 4 "The Long View" (3-22-06)
Jonathan Freedland sets out for the political centre ground, comparing past and present and looking back to the post-war consensus. Back in the early 50s they called the politics of the centre ground ‘Butskellism’ as the policies of the Conservatives' Rab Butler and Labour’s Hugh Gaitskell seemed to move closer and closer together. Today it’s been described by some commentators as ‘Blameron’ -- a new form of centre ground politics, merging the policies of Tony Blair and David Cameron. Jonathan and his guests tell the story of 1951, the year the Conservatives won back power from Labour, with a manifesto which made more than a few concessions to Labour’s introduction of the welfare state and its commitment to the mixed economy. He explores what the move to the centre really meant fifty years ago and asking whether Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats are, once again, battling for the centre ground today.
Vivaldi's Women [12min]
Source: BBC Radio 4 "Woman's Hour" (3-22-06)
One of the great musical partnerships of all time was also one of the most surprising: that between a charitable institution in Venice which took in unwanted girl babies -- even branding them with its own mark -- and one of the world's best-known composers, Antonio Vivaldi. The institution had its own all-female orchestra and choir, and Vivaldi became their musical director. The impact on his composition was remarkable and the names of individual women for whom he wrote have been unearthed from the archives. Most remarkably, a convincing case has been made for him using women singing bass. As a BBC Four TV programme tells their story, Martha Kearney will be joined by the researcher Micky White who's brought the women's stories to light, and singer Nancy-Jane Rucker. Vivaldi's Women is showing on BBC Four TV, Saturday 25 March at 7pm GMT. Vivaldi's Magnificat is broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on 16 April, Easter Sunday, at 6pm GMT.
Married to a Dictator [10min]
Source: BBC Radio 4 "Woman's Hour" (3-22-06)
On Saturday, Slobodan Milosevic, one of the 20th century’s most notorious dictators was buried. His political rise, and fall some would say, had been fuelled by the aspirations and connections of his wife Mira Markovic. But was she just one of many dictators’ wives who wielded such influence from behind? Woman’s Hour investigates what lies behind the myths and realities of some of history’s most influential political wives. Jenni speaks to the journalist and war reporter, Janine Di Giovanni and Professor of Global Governance at LSE, Mary Kaldor.
School of Illumination [45min]
Source: BBC Radio 3 "Sunday Feature" (3-22-06)
Writer and singer Shusha Guppy tells the fascinating story of how Islamic philosophers brought the treasures of classical Greek thought to the West. By the 9th Century, the works of philosophers like Plato and Aristotle had largely been lost in the Latin West. In the Islamic East it was a very different story. For centuries they had been translating these and other Greek philosophical school works, harvesting the knowledge they contained and in turn, writing their own commentaries. As the Islamic empire spread to Europe, that knowledge travelled with it.
Sunday, March 19, 2006
Travel in the Footsteps of Captain Bligh, Rebecca West & 'The Italian Job' [18min @9:00]
Source: BBC Radio 4 "Excess Baggage" (3-19-06)
Many travellers choose to follow in the footsteps of someone who has made the journey previously; Sandi Toksvig hears of three very different approaches to this method of travel. In 1989 Jasper Shackleton set off to journey in an open boat halfway across the Pacific to follow the route of Captain Bligh cast adrift by the Bounty mutineers. Author Tony White has been re-treading the path of Rebecca West's travels in the Balkans on the eve of the Second World War and writer Mark Mason went to Turin to place himself in the very spots where the minis raced round in the film The Italian Job.
1916: The Rising Revisited [11min]
Source: RTÉ Radio 1 News "This Week" (3-19-06)
Reconstruction of contributions by Mayo MP John Dillon (Bryan Dobson), Prime Minister Herbert Asquith (Michael Lewis) & Laurence Ginnell (Micheál Lehane) to a Commons debate in the immediate aftermath of the Rising.
The Lasting Legacy of Harriet Tubman [7min]
Source: NPR "News & Notes with Ed Gordon" (12-31-69)
Essayist S. Pearl Sharp pays a visit to the gravesite of Harriet Tubman, the escaped slave who lead others to freedom on the Underground Railroad. Sharp says that even in death Tubman still has the power to inspire.
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Hair Historians Celebrate 100 Years of the Perm [2min]
Source: NPR "All Things Considered" (3-19-06)
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the permanent wave, known in short as the "perm." One hundred years ago, a hairdresser created a several-hour process involving a chandelier, sodium hydroxide and brass rollers. His guinea pig was his wife.
A History of Religious Communities in the U.S. [6min]
Source: NPR "All Things Considered" (12-31-69)
From the arrival of the Puritans in the 17th century to the establishment of utopian communes two centuries later, America has a long tradition of communities created around religious ideals. Debbie Elliott talks with scholar John Farina about the history of planned religious communities in the United States.
Movie About Dresden Stirs Criticism in Germany [4min]
Source: NPR "All Things Considered" (12-31-69)
Germans have never been sure how to deal with the World War II bombing of the city of Dresden. Recently, the most expensive TV production ever undertaken in Germany tried to tell the story without upsetting anyone. But it reaped a torrent of criticism and managed to offend nearly everyone.
A Conversation with Walter Mondale [6min]
Source: NPR "News & Notes with Ed Gordon" (12-31-69)
Former U.S. senator and vice president Walter Mondale reflects on his career, the future of the Democratic Party and the policy differences between the administrations of Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush.
Composers' Manuscripts Head for Juilliard [5min]
Source: NPR "Morning Edition" (12-31-69)
A treasure trove of composers' manuscripts has been donated to Juilliard. The music school's collection of 139 priceless documents includes works by Beethoven, Brahms and Handel. The donor of the manuscripts was the school's board chairman, Bruce Kovner. Kovner collected them with an eye toward insight into composers' creative processes. The school plans to build a new climate-controlled and secure reading room for the collection, scheduled to open in September 2009. Renee Montagne talks with Miles Hoffman about the collection's significance.
The Electoral College [51min]
Source: WAMU "The Diane Rehm Show" (12-31-69)
The role of the electoral college in presidential elections and how, some say, it should be reformed.Guests: John Fortier, research fellow, American Enterprise Institute; John Anderson, Former member of Congress, one-time candidate for president, chair of the Center for Voting and Democracy, and professor of law at Nova Southeastern University; Jack Rakove, professor, history, American studies, policial science, and law, Stanford University; and Birch Bayh, former Senator, Indiana.
Fr Richard Neuhaus Interview [27min]
Source: BBC World Service "The Interview" (12-31-69)
On "The Interview" this week, Owen Bennett Jones talks to Fr Richard Neuhaus, who has been described as one of the most influential clergymen in the United States. A Catholic priest in New York, he has the ear of President Bush and a long-standing relationship with Pope Benedict XVI. Fr Neuhaus describes his conversations with the President and his justification for the American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. He explains why he thinks Europe is dying and how Islam could conquer the continent. And how a near-death experience left him with feelings of resurrection.
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Janis Karpinski Interview [23min]
Source: BBC World "HARDtalk" (12-31-69)
The images of US soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners shocked many around the world. Stephen Sackur talks to Janis Karpinski, the former Commander of Abu Ghraib prison. Across the towns and cities of America support for the war in Iraq has fallen dramatically over the last three years. Opinion polls suggest that it was the publication of graphic photographs of abuse from Abu Ghraib prison which changed public opinion. Janis Karpinski was the Commander of Abu Ghraib until she was held responsible for the abuses and demoted. She has written a book giving her account of what went on inside the prison. Stephen Sackur asks her if the lessons of Abu Ghraib have been learnt.
John Bolton Interview [23min]
Source: BBC World "HARDtalk" (12-31-69)
Stephen Sackur kicks off a week of interviews in the US with an interview with the US Ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton. The American Ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, has said Iran's nuclear programme is a real test for the UN Security Council. Mr Bolton said Tehran should not be allowed to build atomic weapons and he warned that the United States never took any option off the table, including the use of the military force. As part of a series of interviews from the United States, Stephen Sackur talks to John Bolton about the options facing the international community.
Regency Dinner Parties [11min]
Source: BBC RAdio 4 "Woman's Hour" (12-31-69)
"Invite him to dinner, Emma, and help him to the best of the fish and the chicken, but leave him to choose his own wife." So advises Mr. Knightley to Jane Austen's matchmaking heroine at the end of the first chapter of Emma. During the Regency period, dinner parties ranked first amongst all entertainments and a society hostess was expected to give a dinner party at least once or twice a week. In the first of our new series on food and cookery as would have been familiar to Jane Austen and her characters, Anna McNamee went to meet with the food writer Hattie Ellis who agreed to experiment with cooking a whole fish, the recipe for which came from the cookbook of one of Jane's dearest friends, Martha Lloyd. But first she went to visit the Austenian scholar and biographer, Deirdre Le Faye. Visit website for recipe for Salmon, Pike, Carps or Fresh Cod in Corbullion.
Postcode Lottery in Victorian Britain [30min]
Source: BBC Radio 4 "The Long View" (12-31-69)
Jonathan Freedland puts the UK government's current Education Bill in historical perspective by going back to the Victorian Education Act of 1870. The Prime Minister and his Education Secretary Ruth Kelly have been making the case for creating a new landscape of "trust schools" -- state-funded but independent. But in 1870, before state education existed, arguments raged over whether the mixture of church schools, charity schools, and philanthropic schools which the majority of British pupils attended were really doing the job raising standards for all the nation's children. In 2006 the debate between Tony Blair and his sceptics has focused on the proposed reduced role for local authorities. But in 1870 William Gladstone's Liberal government thought it necessary to introduce, for the very first time, local supervision of schools by elected boards. So how much difference has 136 years made in the history of the debate over British education? Jonathan visits a perfectly preserved Victorian school in Hitchin in Hertfordshire to uncover the parallels. Was it a dismal world of Mr. Gradgrind's "Facts, nothing but the facts"? Or was it -- as one of the programme's guests asserts - a flowering private sector full of initiative and rising standards, just as the Prime Minister believes the new Trust schools would be. Jonathan hears about the highs and lows of Victorian Ragged or Dame Schools, and how some children were torn between a Church of England faith school or a Non-conformist faith schools. He even discovers that what today's parents would recognise as the postcode lottery existed in the nineteenth century.
History of American Vaudeville 2nd of 3 [30min]
Source: BBC Radio 4 "Palace of Laughter, Stateside" (12-31-69)
Geoffrey Wheeler's series about the history of American vaudeville. A profile of Memphis, a city where vaudeville performers mixed with a new generation of musicians -- producing the exciting new sounds of jazz and blues. A city where, even in the days of segregation, Black and white performers were able to mingle freely in the buzzing creative atmosphere of Beale Street, the long-gone Palace Theater, and the still-thriving Orpheum.
Monday, March 13, 2006
The History Boys, by Alan Bennett [2hr30min --thru 18-Mar-06]
Source: BBC Radio 3 "Drama on 3" (12-31-69)
I was both entertained and challenged when I saw the brilliant History Boys, Alan Bennett's multi-award-winning play, in London in 2004. The 'history boys' are 18-year-old secondary students preparing to enter the university from a school where Hector, the Humanities teacher, believes teaching should be the nurturing of wisdom, but the headmaster wants the boys prepped for Oxbridge entrance exams to raise the school's visibility. "The school gives them an education. I give them the wherewithal to resist it. Examine a boy and he is tamed already. Only examine him and you can tax him, empanel him, enlist him, interrogate him and put him in prison. You have only to grade him and you have got him." So says Hector, played by Richard Griffiths (best known to US audiences as Uncle Vernon in the Harry Potter movies). Bennett is the author of The Madness of George III, Talking Heads and Beyond the Fringe (with Peter Cook, Dudley Moore and Jonathan Miller), among many others. [Click "Listen to the latest programme" to open BBC Radio Player; under "A-Z OF ALL SHOWS", scroll down to "Drama on 3 -- Bennett -- The History Boys"]
Empress -- Victoria & Disraeli [15min]
Source: BBC Radio 4 "This Sceptred Isle: Empire" 60th of 90 (12-31-69)
In 1876 Victoria became Empress of India. In 1858 the Crown had taken over absolute rule of India from the East India Company. This was as the Sepoy Rebellion (aka Indian Mutiny) was being quelled. Victoria now represented the height of British imperial symbolism. It was Disraeli's doing and he brought it about largely to flatter the Queen's own imperialist aspirations. She in turn created Disraeli Earl of Beaconsfield. The magazine Punch observed, 'One Good Turn Deserved Another'. This was slightly unfair because Disraeli could have, if he had so wished, received a peerage much earlier. "This Sceptred Isle: Empire" is a narrative history of the British Empire from Ireland in the 12th century to the independence of India in the 20th, told in 90 programmes written by historian Christopher Lee and narrated by actor Juliet Stevenson. (You may listen again online to the five most recent episodes of "Empire".)
Mankind's Genetic Origins [12min @15:43]
Source: BBC Radio 4 "The Material World" (12-31-69)
Where do we actually come from? That is the question that the National Geographic Genographic Project has been trying to answer. By collecting DNA samples from people all over the world, the project is trying to unlock the secrets to humankind's ancestral past. To explain how genetic differences can tell us about how humanity spread around the globe, Quentin Cooper is joined by Spencer Wells, director of the Genographic project, and Mark Thomas from the Centre for Genetic Anthropology at University College London.
Genealogy Tourism [30min]
Source: BBC Radio 4 "Excess Baggage" (12-31-69)
Sandi Toksvig takes a journey into the past and looks at the phenomenon which has become known as ancestry tourism. People from across the globe claim to be descended from British emigrants and many spurred on by their own genealogical research are coming to visit the UK to trace their roots. Equally the descendants of those who stayed at home are now seeking out the branches of the family who went abroad to colonise the empire. Sandi is joined by genealogical travellers John McCracken and Ryan Ewer and Ewan Colville from Ancestral Scotland, and Deirdre Livingstone, a project leader of Jamestown 2007, to find out what renewing family ties means for the tourist trade. McCracken is a senior lecturer recently retired from the history department at Stirling University; Ewer is a marketing manager from Seattle who has settled in the UK because his family background is British; Colville is one of the people behind Ancestral Scotland; and Livingstone is the leader in Britain of the Jamestown 2007 project, which marks the 400th anniversary of the earliest permanent European settlement in America.
Challenges Ahead in Building The Museum of African-American History and Culture [28min]
Source: VOA "Press Conference USA" (12-31-69)
The Museum of African-American History and Culture is slated to open its doors in about 10 years on America’s National Mall. On this edition of Press Conference USA, founding Director, Lonnie Bunch, talks about the challenges ahead in creating exhibits and raising funds. In a conversation with host Carol Castiel and VOA TV correspondent Chris Simkins, Mr. Bunch emphasizes the centrality of the African-American experience to U.S. history and explains why African-American culture resonates around the world.
Bomber -- Cold War Submariners [30min]
Source: BBC Radio 4 "People of the Abyss" (12-31-69)
Writer Andrew Smith goes deep into the lives and adventures of submariners across the generations as he encounters the People of the Abyss. The combination of the ballistic missile and the nuclear-powered submarine changed everything -- warfare, the balance of world power and of course submarining. For the duration of the Cold War, the real front line stretched across millions of miles of dark water. Former Soviet, British and American commanders and crew reveal the unique pressures, intense boredom and underwater strategy that required them to remain hidden or hunted.
USS Nautilus -- 20,000 Leagues Under the Ice [60min]
Source: BBC Radio 4 "Archive Hour" (12-31-69)
In 1958, in utter secrecy, the black hull of the world's first nuclear submarine, USS Nautilus, voyaged beneath the ice of the North Pole and entered into legend. 'Nautilus 90 degrees North' flashed the telegram, informing the world of the boat's historic undersea crossing -- a message that would sink home both in Washington and Moscow -- hinting at American technical genius and the tilting of strategic power. That voyage was captured on disc and long forgotten. Now Charles Wheeler, speaking with the Nautilus captain and crew, reveals a hidden history of adventure and political intrigue at the limits of human knowledge.
Zulu War [15min]
Source: BBC Radio 4 "This Sceptred Isle: Empire" 59th of 90 (12-31-69)
The Zulu War that inspired films but little respect for British colonial diplomacy took place in 1879. Indirectly, the cause was the misjudgement of the colonial secretary Lord Carnarvon who believed Boers and British would come together to protect each other. "This Sceptred Isle: Empire" is a narrative history of the British Empire from Ireland in the 12th century to the independence of India in the 20th, told in 90 programmes written by historian Christopher Lee and narrated by actor Juliet Stevenson. (You may listen again online to the five most recent episodes of "Empire".)
Wednesday, March 8, 2006
Saving the Real 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' [4min]
Source: NPR "News & Notes with Ed Gordon" (12-31-69)
Officials of Maryland's Montgomery County and a preservation group have decided to purchase the home of the slave who inspired the main character in Uncle Tom's Cabin. The sale of the cabin prompted commentator Clarence Page to revisit the tale that still elicits a strong response from readers.
Pioneering Photographer Gordon Parks Dies at 93 [6min]
Source: NPR "Talk of the Nation" (12-31-69)
Photographer and film director Gordon Parks died Tuesday at the age of 93. We remember his works and impact on the world of photography. Guest: Deb Willis, professor of photography and imaging at the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU and author of Reflections in Black: A History of Black Photographers, 1840 to the Present.
Christian Numbers on Decline in the Middle East [34min]
Source: NPR "Talk of the Nation" (12-31-69)
The number of Christians who live in the area where their religion began is in decline. Join Neal Conan and guests for a discussion about why Christians are leaving the Middle East and what that means for the future of their faith and the politics from the lands they leave behind. Guests: Charles Sennott, author of The Body and the Blood: The Middle East's Vanishing Christians and the Possibility for Peace; Nina Shea, director, Center for Religious Freedom, Freedom House; Eden Naby, specialist on the modern Middle East, particularly the area from Iraq to Central Asia; Fawaz Gerges, Christian A. Johnson chairholder in Middle East and International Affairs at Sarah Lawrence College in New York; author of The Far Enemy: Why Jihad Went Global.
Earlier Eruption Eclipses Destruction of Pompeii [3min]
Source: NPR "Morning Edition" (12-31-69)
The Italian city of Pompeii is one of the best-known reminders of how deadly volcanoes can be. Mt. Vesuvius' eruption in AD 79. buried the city, entombing many of the dead in casts of hardened ash that remain today. Now, scientists say the destruction was even worse in an earlier incident -- a deadly day 4,000 years ago. A group of scientists digging northwest of Vesuvius near Naples has found evidence that an enormous eruption during the Bronze Age covered the land almost 15 miles away from the volcano in hot ash and dust. The findings appear in the latest edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. One village was practically petrified in ash, with utensils and pottery still intact. The scientists also found 4,000-year-old footprints of people and animals running away from the destruction.
Cicely Mayhew on 60 Years of Women Diplomats [7min]
Source: BBC Radio 4 "Woman's Hour" (12-31-69)
Cicely Mayhew was one of the first women to be appointed to the British Diplomatic service. As the Foreign and Commonwealth Office commemorates 60 years of women diplomats, she tells Martha what it was like to serve overseas in the wake of the Second World War.
Bettany Hughes on the Medici: Smart Women, Gay Men and False Gods [30min]
Source: BBC Radio 4 "Amongst the Medici" (12-31-69)
Historian Bettany Hughes concludes her journey through the beauty and the blood of renaissance Florence. This week she finds that, contrary to popular belief, it was smart women, gay men and false gods who made the corner stones of western civilisation.